2006 Chicago Bulls: Youth Returns To The Playoffs

In 2005, buoyed by the arrival of rookies Ben Gordon and Luol Deng, the Bulls made the playoffs for the first time since the Michael Jordan Era ended seven years earlier. The 2006 Chicago Bulls regressed a bit, but in the end still got back into the postseason.

Gordon and Deng continued to lead the way. Gordon averaged 17ppg, while Deng went for 14 points/6 rebounds per game. Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nicioni, at the ages  of 25 and 26 respectively, were grizzled veterans on this team. Hinrich averaged 16 points/4 rebounds/6 assists. Nicioni posted a 13/6 nightly average. Depth was added with 23-year-olds, Chris Duhon and Tyson Chandler. Duhon was a playmaker, while Chandler hit the boards.

Chicago set a positive tone with an early 106-99 won over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. The Bulls lost twice to the Detroit Pistons, the two-time defending Eastern Conference champs. That wasn’t a problem, but Chicago also lost twice to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where LeBron James was en route to making the playoffs for the first time. The Bulls dropped a pair to the Milwaukee Bucks, who would be on the playoff fringe all year long.

By early January, Chicago was mired with a record of 12-19. While they picked up the pace, the record was still 20-24 at the end of January and the Bulls were two games out of the playoffs.

Things didn’t get any better in February. The Bulls managed a split with the Philadelphia 76ers, another team that would be on the playoff bubble. But their overall record slipped to 25-31 by month’s end. Chicago was three games of Philadelphia and Milwaukee, who held the final two spots in the playoff structure.

On March 22, the Bulls were staring into the abyss with a 29-39 record. Only the fact the Eastern Conference was clearly the inferior side of the NBA was saving them. Chicago was still within three games of Philly for the final playoff spot. There was a chance, but there was less than a month to get it figured out.

Just in time, the Bulls got rolling. They won five of six games. Not only did they pull to within a half-game of the 76ers, but the Bucks and Indiana Pacers slumped back to the bubble. There were four teams packed neck-in-neck and three spots to go around.

Chicago and Philadelphia would play each other twice in succession in early April. The Bulls went into Philly and got a 99-92 win behind 21 points/13 rebounds from Niconi, and Chandler coming off the bench to pull down 15 rebounds. But Chicago couldn’t sustain the urgency in the home rematch—they were outrebounded 51-37, only shot 33 percent and lost 89-75. There was a week and a half to go, and everything was still up for grabs.

With the money on the table, the Bulls responded. The playoff-bound New Jersey Nets came into town. Gordon poured in 36 points, Nicioni went for a 20/17 line and Chicago won 104-101. After taking care of business against the lowly Atlanta Hawks, the Bulls hosted another playoff-bound foe in the Washington Wizards. Once again, Gordon went off. He dropped 32 points and Chicago pulled out a 103-101 win.

In the meantime, Philadelphia was collapsing and would be the odd team out. The Bulls closed the year with six straight wins and got to 41-41. While it was six fewer victories than the prior year, it was still a strong finish, and it got them the 7-seed in the playoffs.

The Miami Heat were lying in wait. They had a young Dwayne Wade, a veteran Shaquille O’Neal, a Hall of Fame coach in Pat Riley and were destined to win the NBA championship. But Chicago hung in there pretty well.

After losing the first two games on the road, the Bulls came back home and made it a series. They forced 19 turnovers and won Game 3 going away. In Game 4, Gordon, Hinrich, and Nicioni all hit for 20-plus and Chicago got a tough 93-87 win.

Alas, like most underdogs in the snake pit of the NBA playoffs, the Bulls ran out of steam. Only Nicioni continued to produce the final two games, and Chicago lost both by double-digits.

The strong finish was still pointing to better things in the immediate future. In 2007, Chicago not only made a third straight playoff trip, but they won a postseason series.